Help specing a new gaming PC please!

[Compkiler]

Hi lads/lasses, im not quite sure if this is the best thread to put this on but im afer a new gaming PC and wanted to know what you guys thought of this spec?

Many thanks...

CPU: NEW! AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 6400+ Black Edition AM2 Dual Core
CPU Cooler: NEW! Coolermaster Eclipse
Motherboard: Asus M2N-E SLI (nForce 500 Chipset, SLI, 7.1 Audio, Firewire)
Memory: 4.0GB Corsair DDR2 800mhz XMS2 (4x 1GB)
Hard Drive: 500GB S-ATA2 3.0Gb/s
Optical Drive: 20x DVD±RW DL S-ATA
Second optical drive: 16x DVDROM
Graphics card: NEW! NVidia GeForce 8800GT 512MB
Sound card: Creative X-FI Xtreme 7.1 Audio
PSU: 700W Thermaltake Toughpower
Case: Thermaltake Armor

[freddie]

why amd? for gaming core 2 is faster even some of the cheaper cpus are plenty faster than amds top.

your psu is overkill, save some money and go for 500-550 range, even if you get 'another 8800gt later on it'll be plenty - with both cards you'll still only be pulling 50%max.

i understand for gaming speed of memory is better than lower latency so 1066mhz ram at cas 5 is better than cas4 800ram, as far as i understand.

apart from that it lloks good, you havn't mentioned what res you'll be playing at, that will make a big difference on recommendations!

[Saracen]

I've moved this to the Hardware section for you, Compkiler. It's an easy mistake to make, but Question Time is a discussion/debate forum for things like politics, current affairs, and so on, rather like the (UK) TV show of the same name.

[Thorsson]

C2D beats AMD if you either want to go top end or are prepared to OC. Currently that means Q6600 and an Abit IP35 of some variety. Soon there will be even faster chips.

For case then Antec P182 (silence and cooling) or Antec 900 (cooling but still quiet) are better, and the Corsair 520 (or 620 for overkill) are great value.

For HDD I would get the 32Mb cache Seagate 7200.11. For ODD the Samsung SH-203. If you are going to get a 2nd drive then get a Lite-on, ASUS or LG (no point in getting a slower or non-write drive as the price differential is peanuts).

[Aez]

Looks like a pre built computer to me so keeping that in mind it looks good but like stated you should take a gander at a core2 based system or build your own

[Compkiler]

Thanks for the advice, and help guys
I will contimplate going Intel instead of AMD then for an extra £50.
Yes its also a pre built system and i have no clue what so ever on how to build my own!!!
I have heard a lot of bad things about Vista atm so would it be best to go for XP then?
If so do i need 4mb memory as i have heard XP only need 2mb?
And as for the PSU, shall i stick with the basic 600W version then or spend an extra £45 and buy the Thermaltake Toughpower one?
Thanks again guys!

Kind regards,
Simon

Ps. sorry for putting this is the wrong section and thank you for moving it

[danroyle]

one question how much is this system gonna cost you as prebuilt are not always the bets value for gaming systems

and to some of your questions

xp32 bit will only use 3gb of ram so 4gb only any good with xp pro 64 bit

psu wise thermaltake are not very good although they usually have a lot of power they tend to fluctuate on the important rails

i found trhis out to my cost on a 480w psu when it overvolted my northbridge and blew it to hell

vista is getting better and if you are buying new build you might as well get it to take advantage of the directx 10 features on your card

and yes £50 more for a good core 2 duo system would be worth it

[Thorsson]

RAM - on any 32bit OS, so this includes Vista32, you can only use ~3.25Gb in total and 2Gb on any one programme. While this means you are not getting full use of 4Gb it's still better than 2Gb.

I use Vista64 with no hardware issues (soundcards and legacy equipment are the only hardware I know to have issues, but a decent mobo will have good enough on board sound) and the only software issue I've had is with an old DOS program. Games run a bit slower, and you probably need to check up which of your favourites are affected in a way to change your gaming experience.

PSU - if your only choices are no name and TT, then I guess you have to take the TT. Or shop elsewhere. A number of the places we use to self-build will build for you. They can be a bit slow though.

[KiMi-Tech]

700W is a bit overkill for the system. It would run on 450W.

If you are dead set on AMD the 5000+ black edition can be found for less than £70 now due to AMD price cuts and that overclocks very easily to 3.0GHz or more.

Look at thermalright or scythe for CPU coolers. The coolermasters are not up to scratch right now.